Lying-in is the term given to the European forms of postpartum confinement, the traditional practice involving long bed rest before[
]
Description
A 1932 publication refers to lying-in as ranging from two weeks to two months.
[ Lying in by Jan Nusche quoting The Bride's Book — A Perpetual Guide for the Montreal Bride, published in 1932] It also suggests not "getting up" (getting out of bed post-birth) for at least nine days and ideally for 20 days.
[Jenstad, Janelle Day, Lying-in Like a Countess: The Lisle Letters, the Cecil Family, and A Chaste Maid in Cheapside, Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies - Volume 34, Number 2, Spring 2004, pp. 373-403] Care was provided either by her female relatives (mother or mother-in-law), or, for those who could afford it, by a temporary worker called the
monthly nurse. These weeks ended with the re-introduction of the mother to the community in the Christian ceremony of the churching of women. When lying-in was a more common term, it was used in the names of several maternity hospitals, for example the General Lying-In Hospital in London. Until the 1970s, standard NHS postpartum care involved 10 days in hospital, with the newborns taken to the nursery overnight, ensuring the mothers were well rested by the time they returned home.
Special foods
A
caudle was a hot drink, well documented in
British cuisine, particularly in Victorian times, as suitable for invalids and new mothers. So much was it associated with the visits of friends to see the new baby that "cake and caudle" or "taking caudle" became a
metonym for postpartum social visits.
Social aspects
Women received congratulatory visits from friends and family during the period; among many traditional customs around the world, the
desco da parto was a special form of painted tray presented to the mother in
Renaissance Florence. The many scenes painted on these trays show female visitors bringing presents, received by the mother in bed, while other women tend to the baby. Equivalent gifts in contemporary culture include
and
.
No fixed term of lying-in is recommended in Renaissance manuals on family life (unlike in some other cultures), but documentary records suggest that the mother was rarely present at the baptism, which in Italian cities was usually held within a week of the birth at the local parish church, normally a few minutes' walk from any house.[ "Renaissance childbirth", Victoria & Albert Museum]
In art
In art, the immensely popular scene of the
Birth of Jesus technically shows the Virgin Mary, who reclines on a couch in most medieval examples, lying-in, but in famously non-ideal conditions. More ideal images of lying-in in well-off households are represented in
Birth of the Virgin and
Birth of John the Baptist. These are generally given contemporary settings, and differ little from other images that are purely secular, especially those on
desci da parto.
